1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to clothes dryers and more particularly to knockout plugs for venting the dryer exhaust.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In clothes dryers, a source of heat sufficient to dry the wet clothes in the dryer is drawn through the dryer by a blower. After the heat has been drawn through the dryer containing the clothes it is necessary to vent the heated air. To this end, an air exhaust conduit is provided that extends from within the cabinet of the dryer to an area outside the dryer. For example, it is known to extend the air exhaust conduit from the cabinet to a window so that the heated air is vented outdoors.
Due to the construction of the basement or other location where the consumer may locate the dryer it may be necessary or desirable to extend the air exhaust conduit from a specific side of the dryer. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide the consumer with a method for venting the air exhaust conduit from either side or the back of the dryer. To this end, knockout plugs in the dryer cabinet have been developed. A knockout plug is a portion of the painted cabinet that has been constructed so that the consumer can remove the plug creating a vent in the dryer through which the air exhaust conduit can be extended.
For example, it is known to stamp the sheet metal from which the metal casing of the cabinet is constructed along a majority of a circumference of a circle leaving a retaining strip. This creates a knockout plug that is sheared along a majority of the circumference of the circle, but, however is still secured to the remaining portions of the metal casing by the retaining strip. To create an opening or vent, the consumer exerts a sufficient force on the knockout plug fracturing the retaining strip. However this construction is not entirely satisfactory. Typical stamped steel exhaust vent knockout plugs are not easy to remove and damage to the side panels of the dryer while removing the plug is a common occurrence. In order to remove the knockout plug it is necessary to fracture the retaining strip. This requires that a sufficiently large force be exerted thereagainst. The force necessary to fracture a retaining strip to equal to the actual failure stress. Due to the large force that must be exerted to remove the plug, damage to the paint and side panels typically occurs.
It has been known to utilize plastic insert plugs instead of knockout plugs that are stamped out of the metal casing. To this end, a hole is stamped in the metal casing and a plastic insert plug is inserted therein. Although the plastic insert plug provides a vent plug that is easier to remove than typical stamped steel exhaust vent plugs it suffers the disadvantage of not being color matched to the dryer. As previously stated, one of the advantages of exhaust vent plugs is that it allows the consumer to vent the air exhaust conduit from either side of the cabinet. Accordingly, one of the knockout plugs will typically not be removed. Therefore, the knockout plug must also provide an aesthically pleasing construction since it will typically form a part of the cabinet. Moreover, plastic insert plugs are usually more expensive than stamped knockout plugs.
Thus, it would be advantageous to provide an easy to remove knockout plug that is stamped out of the sheet metal from which the metal casing is created.